1 PROLOGUE

The year is 2065...

Science has propelled Mankind into a Medical Renaissance unlike any the world has ever seen before. Advanced cancer treatments, truly lifelike prosthetics, instant healing gel; on a global scale, the billions of humans have witnessed the evolution of what human intelligence could achieve. At the spearhead of this renaissance were the minds at the most highly advanced medical university and research center in the world, the Desmond Dawes Medical University and Research Center in Southern California. Behind their walls laid the secrets that could ultimately change the fate of Mankind forever..

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2065

Desmond Dawes MURC (Medical University and Research Center)

Southern California, United States

The silence of the wilderness of Southern California was uninterrupted; a slight breeze rustled the trees upon the tall trees, grass and thick bushes lightly, the sound itself peaceful and gentle. The darkness of the night was contrasted by the light of the full moon above, the stars twinkling across the night sky. All was quiet up and over the mountains and hills of the Southern California countryside, not even a car or two on the small roads that stretched across some of the lush and natural land. But deep in the wilderness stood a large complex of buildings of various size surrounded by a solid wall encompassing it. The large fifteen building complex was illuminated by the moon in darkness, most of its windows sealed by steel shudders. Street lights and outdoor building lights were shut off, not a light illuminating from the facility itself.

The buildings of the facility were connected by interconnected halls of varying lengths and sizes, not a sidewalk in sight except out into the large, front parking lot. Even the windows of the halls were shuttered tight, the entire facility seemingly on lockdown. Not a soul was outside; only Mother Nature and empty cars in the parking lot populated the outside. However, it was not long before the silence was interuppted suddenly; shrieks and screams were audible but muffled, coming from the interior of the mysterious complex. Muffled screams of men and women continued to peak out from the facility itself.

Inside, the halls were drowned in darkness or dim lighting. The metallic interrior was cold, the air thick with tension and stunk of death and fear. However, there was no silence within these halls; there were blood-curdling screams; screams of men and women alongside metal stressing and the frantic footsteps of fleeing innocents. This came from a group of eight people that appeared to be wearing lab coats and jackets, most of them young adults. Several of them were covered in blood, the woman sprinting at the front of the group drowned in the crimson bodily fluid. What followed their screams and thundering footsteps was the sound of growling, snarling and animalistic screeching, the sound almost deafening as it became louder and louder. The group sprinted through the halls and leaped down a set of stairs in to the floor below in their efforts to find safety or escape their pursuer that stalked them in the dark like a predator stalking its prey. The last person of the group was a young man, who looked behind himself and widened his dark blue eyes in shock as his pupils stared directly at his pursuer, a large hulking creature that reached towards him with huge, rotting hands. Its meaty hands wrapped itself around the torso of the young man, yanking him from the sight of the young woman in front of him. The man was instantly consumed by the darkness, his screams becoming even louder as the sound of tearing and ripping flesh was heard right after whatever grabbed him did so.

"NOOOOOO!" the woman before him screamed, tripping over herself after having looked back and attempted to reach for him. She hit the metallic floor hard on her side, the desperate woman crawling before getting to one of her knees and attempting to throw herself forward onto her feet to catch up to the other six. However, it was far too late for her as she stepped once forward, the creature's hands grabbing her head and almost easily ripping it from her neck as she stepped forward. Her headless body flung itself onto its back with a loud clang as the hand pulled itself back into the darkness.

The group of six kept fleeing for their lives, making their way through the maze of hallways within the complex. Their footsteps and heavy breathing echoed through the halls as the screeching and snarling seemed to die down. Soon, after navigating themselves through another stairwell and several more hallways, the group came to a hall that led down to a sealed room with a sign that said "Security Station" hanging over the doorway.

"There it is!" the leader of the group exclaimed, pointing at it and catching her breath. Her small, brown eyes focused on the illuminated sign, as though the green color of the small light emitting from it representing hope to the Japanese woman and her fellow colleagues. "Come on!"

Suddenly, the door to their right was ripped open with ease, causing her and her group to scream out in horror. She began her sprint down the hall, three members of the group frozen by fear as the rest followed. The hulking shadow stood over them with its gigantic, dog-like teeth showing. Two of the three standing in fear, a man and two women, then started to run , one of the women pushing the other into the creature's general direction with a shove. The woman screamed in absolute shock, the creature grabbing her and dragging her towards itself before, again, blood curdling screams and gorging were heard. The lead of the group reached the door, attempting to open it using the small number pad that was next to the doorway. Frantically entering in the code with shaking hands, the metal door slowly opened in front of her, the rest of the group still attempting to catch up with her. One of them reached in her general direction as she ran towards her.

"PROFESSOR ITO!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "PROFESSOR ITO! WAIT FOR US!!!!!" Ito, the leader, stepped into the room as the door opened wide open for them. The young professor waved them forward quickly.

"COME!" Ito bellowed at them. "BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE! COME QUICK!" The thudding of heavy stomps came bareling towards them, the shadowy, hulking figure appearing behind the fleeing group fast. Ito, shocked by fear, stared at them before leaning to the side and pressing a button on the keypad that began to close the metal doors.

"NO!" the woman that shouted at her in the hall screamed. "DON'T DO THIS!!!!"

"I am sorry..." she muttered as the door continued to close. She shed a few tears as she watched her doomed colleagues run for their lives towards her. The shadowy creature swiped two of the three fleeing people, hitting the wall with brute force. The woman looked behind herself and screamed again before she looked back to the front and lept foward towards the door, the door closing on half of her torso and catching her. It began to crush her, Ito bellowing out in terror. She stumbled back as the woman still reached towards Ito, screaming and crying, the life slowly escaping her eyes. The door then fully closed, her upper half of her body falling to the floor with a meaty thud. Her entrails and innerds began to slowly slide from her body, blood surrounding the woman's upper half. Breathing heavily and crying in shock, Ito forced herself into one of the security computers, typing frantically on the keyboard and turning on a microphone sitting in front of it. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and focused her gaze at the camera on top of the computer.

"This is Professor Ito, researcher at Desmond Dawes M.U.R.C." she began with a shaky and unstable voice. "Priority Message Code 003!" The sound of clanging and banging was heard from the otherside of the bloody steel door, the metal beginning to dent as it was getting pounded on repeatedly by the creature behind it.

"A Level-10 emergency has occured!" Ito exclaimed. "I repeat, a Level-10 emergency has occured. Initiate response procedure 5 immediately!" Again the door was being pounded on, the metal continuing to be punched and bashed in. Ito look back at the bloody door, seeing the door being ripped apart by the creature like a person ripping through a wet paper bag. Ito spun her had back around to the computer.

"PLEASE!" she cried out at the screen, tearing up and sobbing in front of the camera on the computer. "PLEASE SEND HELP!!!!" Suddenly, the computer had been shut off, whatever power the Security Room had going down. It was complete dark within the Security Room, Ito whimpering and shivering in fear as she stood in the dark in front of the large, hulking creature. As the darkness overtook everything, she let out a final scream after it had snarled and screeched aloud...

Silence followed...

GENETICA